Science

Security researchers found a way to gain remote access to Tesla cars and execute some actions. Some actions like move the mirrors or open the trunk are not so scary but some other actions like access to the brakes is very scary. Don’t think that those actions require the hacker to be near the car, access to the brakes can be done remotely, kilometers away from the car. Keen security lab researches created a video that demonstrate some actions they can perform on Tesla cars. I hope those security holes to be patched soon.

So far we’ve heard about Solid State Drives (SSD) which are much faster than normal drives. Now, researches are looking for Solid State Electrolytes (SSE) which will help us have batteries that will last much longer. Today’s batteries are based on Liquid-State Electrolytes and they have their limitations. Researches from MIT and Samsung have developed a new material which can be used in future batteries to increase their storage, their life and make them safer. I would love to have a battery that lasts for a week (at least) with a single charge.

I enjoy reading about strange facts but some times those facts are myths. For example recently I was reading some ‘mind blowing’ ‘facts’ and one of them was that elephants are the only mammal that can’t jump which is clearly untrue. There are several other mammals that can’t jump either. Hippos, rhinos and sloths are some of them. Elephants have at all times feet on the ground even when they run while hippos and rhinos don’t. They can have all four feet off the ground when they run.

If you listen to metal then you probably know death metal, heavy metal and any other metal subcategories. Some of you also know a band named HIM that tried to create Love Metal but with no success. Now, a new metal arrives and they call it Math Metal. With lyrics “the proportion is divine” and “the ratio defined” the song is very powerful. If you like numbers or metal you should listen to this song, if you love both, then it is a must. I admit that I liked it but I also found it amusing and I wanted to share it with you.

I like science and the cool things you can do with it like chemical reactions and Tesla coils. This video belongs to that category, the cool science. It is an experiment that uses two regular things, water and sound. I bet you have both of them in your house and you can do this on your own. The experiment is very simple but very impressive. Based on the frequency of the woofer you see the water drops frozen or moving backwards into the tube. Stop reading and press play to watch the video.

We all watch the Moon from time to time and most of us admire it. Moon is also approached as a must see in a romantic date and for some others a full moon means werewolves. If you look at it with a telescope you will notice its craters and general its formation. If you did so when you were a small kid and again recently you will notice that there is no change on what you see. This is true for the near past but Moon was not like this from the beginning. Thanks to NASA and its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter you can now see the evolution of the Moon and enjoy it in HD (up to 1080p). The video is very informative and very interesting to watch.

This robot set a new speed record for legged robots, we all know that robots on wheels are a lot faster. This robot is moving like the fast-running animals and especially cheetah. The record is now 18 miles (29 kilometers) per hour with the previous record being set on 1989 with 13.1 mph. It is running by flexing and un-flexing its back and if you have seen documentaries the first image that pops in your mind is the wild predators of the nature. The creator of this robot is Boston Dynamics of Waltham which works with US department of defence (DOD).

The history of transistors is very interesting, about fifty years old and it is coming to an end. Scientists have created a single-atom controllable transistor and as they told us it can’t get any smaller.The team that created the smallest transistor ever has researchers from University of New South Wales, Purdue University and the University of Melbourne. That transistor is engineered from a single phosphorus and shows that electronic components can be engineered very very small. Some say that it is the end of Moore’s Law too because if they can successfully create processors with one atom transistors it will dramatically increase the number of transistors in a processor. This will not happened in the next few years because it is very difficult to manufacture such chips and single-atom transistor must be kept cold, in temperature of minus 196 Celsius. This technology can lead to smaller processors and this means also thinner products.

Scientists are trying to identify us with as many ways as possible. So far, they have used fingerprints, footprints, eyes, voice, walking patterns and DNA that I can remember right now. Apparently those ways are not enough, they are now trying to identify us using our heartbeat. Each heartbeat is unique, it follows an irregular pattern that is repeated. A unique key can be generated based on that pattern which can be used to encrypt binary data. This will help us to encrypt our data without the need to remember passwords but there are many disadvantages. First of all, you can’t change the key, once someone successfully find it then he can access your data and you can’t do anything about it. Secondly, if you have an arrhythmia or problems with your heart you will not be able to access your data because the pattern will probably change. I want to believe that I am not the only one that thought about those problems and scientists will take them into consideration when creating the key. This is very interesting and we will see how they will use those patterns in the near future.

If you like funny videos, science, destruction or you are fan of Rage Against The Machine you must watch this video. It shows how a Hotpoint washer can self-destruct after some modifications. It is very funny and interesting, you can see it tearing itself apart and with some help to be destroyed completely. You can see its parts breaking slowly or flying away. You should not try it at home, it is very risky and if you are not careful someone can get hurt.